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PREFACE
Public Health Offices,
Ilford.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors September, 1948.
of the Borough of Ilford.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I submit herewith the Annual Report on the Health Services for the year
1947.
The health of the town's inhabitants has remained uniformly good, as
evidenced by the vital statistics given on pages 10 and 11. Reference to Table
la on page 14 will show that the local figures compare most favourably with
those for England and Wales and the Administrative County of London.
It will be noted that the uncorrected death rate of 8.G is slightly below the
figure for 1946, and the corrected death rate of 9.8 is 0.1 above the 1946
figure. The infantile mortality rate continued its decline, falling to 24.3, the
lowest ever recorded in Ilford, and substantially below that given for England
and Wales (41) or the Administrative County of London (37).
The birth rate showed a slight fall to 19.1 as compared with last year's
figure of 20.2. The actual number of births registered totalled 3,368 as compared
with 3,443 for 1946. It is satisfactory to note that the number of
illegitimate births registered was only 3.3 per cent, of the total.
In September, as part of a Civic Week Exhibition, a comprehensive
display was arranged to illustrate the activities of the Department. Diagrams,
charts, and exhibits of apparatus appliances and equipment used in the various
sections were arranged in a narrative sequence.
During the year under review, the environmental hygiene section of the
Department continued its work, which was considerably increased by housing
and infectious disease enquiries. In addition to the routine supervision of
matters of general sanitation, particular attention was paid to the purity of
food supplies, especially milk and ice cream.
Many applications were received for certificates of housing defects to
support claims for war damage repairs, or for building licences. A large
number of house inspections were instituted by complaints received of
insanitary or overcrowded housing conditions, upon the substantiation of
which complainants wished to base claims for the provision of alternative
accommodation. The Sanitary inspectors have also had to deal with numerous
requests for the removal of aged and infirm or chronic invalids from insanitary
premises, or where adequate care could not be provided at home. Unfortunately,
institutional accommodation for these persons continues to be
totally insufficient.
At the time of writing a campaign against food and drink infections is
in progress. A long term educational policy has been adopted and this is
being directed to school children, the public generally, and executives of all
grades in the food handling trades. Propaganda by means of posters,
leaflets, press articles, lectures, demonstrations and films, is being used and
the goodwill, co-operation and assistance of all concerned is earnestly sought.
In connection with this campaign, the Sanitary Inspectors are conducting
an intensive survey of all food preparing, catering and retail premises.
So far as infectious diseases are concerned, there have been no serious
epidemics affecting the citizens of the Borough. The commonest ailment was
measles, there being 2,232 cases, as against 1,135 in 1946. Whooping cough,
the next common infection, showed an increase from 341 to 935 cases.
During the year an extensive outbreak of acute anterior polio-myelitis affected
the country. In all, 7,800 cases were notified, as against 1,581 notifications